Biochemical processes are carried out in particular on the basis of the handling of liquids. This handling is typically carried out manually using additional aids, such as pipettes, reaction vessels, active probe surfaces or laboratory equipment. These processes are already automated in part by pipette robots or by special equipment.
Lab-on-a-chip systems place the entire function of a macroscopic laboratory on a plastics substrate which is merely the size of a plastic card. Lab-on-a-chip systems typically consist of two main components. A test substrate contains structures and mechanisms for implementation of basic fluid operations (for example mixers), which may consist of passive components, such as ducts, reaction chambers and upstream reagents, or of active components, such as valves or pumps. The second main components are actuation, detection and control units. Such systems make it possible to carry out biochemical processes in a fully automated manner.
A lab-on-a-chip system is described for example in document DE 10 2006 003 532 A1. This system comprises a rotor chip, which is rotatable with respect to a stator chip. The rotor chip can be coupled by means of fluidic ducts to the stator chip for filling or emptying of the rotor chip.